| Final | | time | | gap | L | | 1. Klaus Bodinger |  East Germany | 2:40.9 | | | 5 | | 2. Marek Petrusewicz |  Poland | 2:42.5 | | +1.6s | 4 | | 3. Sándor Utassy |  Hungary | 2:43.4 | | +2.5s | - | | 4. Duško Pandur |  Yugoslavia | 2:45.5 | | +4.6s | 6 | | 5. Konrad Enke | East Germany | 2:45.7 | | +4.8s | 3 | | 6. Béla Fábián | Hungary | 2:45.9 | | +5.0s | 1 | | 7. Vladimir Minashkin |  Soviet Union | 2:47.8 | | +6.9s | - | | 8. Norbert Rumpel |  West Germany | 2:49.3 | | +8.4s | 8 |
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| World Record: | | European Record: |
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Heats - Saturday, 4th September | | Best 8 times advanced to Final>. |
| Heat 4 | | time | | Rk | | 1. Marek Petrusewicz | Poland | 2:43.1 | 5 | 1. | | 2. Konrad Enke | East Germany | 2:45.5 | 6 | 3. | | 3. Knud Gleie |  Denmark | 2:49.7 | 1 | 13. | | 4. Jesús Domínguez |  Spain | 2:52.1 | 3 | 15. | | 5. Gilbert Desmit |  Belgium | 2:52.8 | 4 | 18. | | 6. Thorkild Barnkob | Denmark | 2:53.1 | 7 | 21. | | -. Olle Johansson |  Sweden | DNS | 2 | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | Rk | | 1. Duško Pandur | Yugoslavia | 2:46.4 | 4 | 4. | | 2. Peter Bekkering |  Netherlands | 2:48.5 | 2 | 10. | | 3. Leonid Makarenko | Soviet Union | 2:49.0 | 7 | 12. | | 4. Wim van Zijl | Netherlands | 2:52.9 | 6 | 19. | | 5. Aulis Kähkönen |  Finland | 2:53.1 | 8 | 20. | | 6. Erik Gulbrandsen |  Norway | 2:53.6 | 1 | 22. | | 7. Vladimír Skovajsa |  Czechoslovakia | 2:53.8 | 3 | 23. | | -. Franco Cannavale |  Italy | DNS | 5 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | Rk | | 1. Sándor Utassy | Hungary | 2:47.3 | 5 | 6. | | 2. Béla Fábián | Hungary | 2:47.4 | 8 | 7. | | 3. Norbert Rumpel | West Germany | 2:47.8 | 6 | 8. | | 4. Sven-Gunnar Karlsson | Sweden | 2:51.3 | 1 | 14. | | 5. Giorgio Grilz | Italy | 2:52.7 | 2 | 16. | | 6. Peter Jervis |  Great Britain | 2:52.7 | 4 | 17. | | 7. K. Vrba | Czechoslovakia | 2:56.8 | 3 | 24. | | -. Juha Tikka | Finland | DNS | 7 | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | Rk | | 1. Klaus Bodinger | East Germany | 2:43.5 | 4 | 2. | | 2. Vladimir Minashkin | Soviet Union | 2:47.3 | 2 | 5. | | 3. Hugues Broussard |  France | 2:48.0 | 3 | 9. | | 4. Walter Kruschinski | West Germany | 2:48.9 | 8 | 11. | | -. Jorge Nicolau | Spain | DNS | 1 | | | -. Svein Søgaard | Norway | DNS | 5 | | | -. Johann Pieler |  Austria | DNS | 6 | | | -. Gojko Arneri | Yugoslavia | DNS | 7 | |
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| Overall | | Heats | Final | | 1. Klaus Bodinger | East Germany | 2:43.5 1 h1 | 2:40.9 1 F | | 2. Marek Petrusewicz | Poland | 2:43.1 1 h4 | 2:42.5 2 F | | 3. Sándor Utassy | Hungary | 2:47.3 1 h2 | 2:43.4 3 F | | 4. Duško Pandur | Yugoslavia | 2:46.4 1 h3 | 2:45.5 4 F | | 5. Konrad Enke | East Germany | 2:45.5 2 h4 | 2:45.7 5 F | | 6. Béla Fábián | Hungary | 2:47.4 2 h2 | 2:45.9 6 F | | 7. Vladimir Minashkin | Soviet Union | 2:47.3 2 h1 | 2:47.8 7 F | | 8. Norbert Rumpel | West Germany | 2:47.8 3 h2 | 2:49.3 8 F | | 9. Hugues Broussard | France | 2:48.0 3 h1 | - | | 10.Peter Bekkering | Netherlands | 2:48.5 2 h3 | - | | 11.Walter Kruschinski | West Germany | 2:48.9 4 h1 | - | | 12.Leonid Makarenko | Soviet Union | 2:49.0 3 h3 | - | | 13.Knud Gleie | Denmark | 2:49.7 3 h4 | - | | 14.Sven-Gunnar Karlsson | Sweden | 2:51.3 4 h2 | - | | 15.Jesús Domínguez | Spain | 2:52.1 4 h4 | - | | 16.Gilbert Desmit | Belgium | 2:52.8 5 h4 | - | | 17.Thorkild Barnkob | Denmark | 2:53.1 6 h4 | - | | 18.Giorgio Grilz | Italy | 2:52.7 5 h2 | - | | 19.Peter Jervis | Great Britain | 2:52.7 6 h2 | - | | 20.Wim van Zijl | Netherlands | 2:52.9 4 h3 | - | | 21.Aulis Kähkönen | Finland | 2:53.1 5 h3 | - | | 22.Erik Gulbrandsen | Norway | 2:53.6 6 h3 | - | | 23.Vladimír Skovajsa | Czechoslovakia | 2:53.8 7 h3 | - | | 24.K. Vrba | Czechoslovakia | 2:56.8 7 h2 | - | | -. Jorge Nicolau | Spain | - DNS h1 | - | | -. Svein Søgaard | Norway | - DNS h1 | - | | -. Johann Pieler | Austria | - DNS h1 | - | | -. Walter Kruschinski | West Germany | - DNS h1 | - | | -. Juha Tikka | Finland | - DNS h2 | - | | -. Franco Cannavale | Italy | - DNS h3 | - | | -. Olle Johansson | Sweden | - DNS h4 | - |
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